Spain progresses VCR 8x8 programme
Spanish Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, has signed a new commitment allowing the incorporation of a limited company made up of four other national defence industry leaders.
Indra Sistemas, Santa Barbara Sistemas (part of General Dynamics), Sapa Placencia and Escribano Mechanical & Engineering will work together to carry out the VCR 8x8 programme.
This move means that that the contract for the programme could be signed in Q3 of FY2020, according to a 13 May defence ministry statement.
The government aims to retain the design authority in Spain with at least 70% participation from the national industry in the VCR 8x8 programme. The initiative is expected to create 650 direct and 1,000 indirect jobs mainly in Asturias, Seville, Guipuzcoa and Madrid.
The contract will also provide a solution to concerns from the Spanish Army over the maintenance and future upgrade of its 8x8 Dragón IFV, which has a service life of 40 years.
Related Programmes in Defence Insight
More from Land Warfare
-
Romania opens the chequebook and reorganises as it watches Russian aggression
Romania is retiring old systems, some Soviet, and replacing them with western equipment from countries such as Sweden and Turkey and boosting existing modern fleets.
-
UK fires Archer for first time in live-fire exercise
Exercise Dynamic Front 25 is part of a series of NATO exercises that will run until 26 November.
-
Milrem picks Texelis for partnership in drive to develop large UGV
Milrem has delivered or is building a total of 200 Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry System UGVs and has chosen Texelis as partner in its effort to develop a UGV.
-
Sweden takes delivery of first M3 amphibious bridge and ferry system
The most recent nation to join NATO has joined other member nations in using the M3 system.
-
CV90 delivery to Slovakia imminent
Slovakia is undergoing a radical refresh of its equipment, like many central and eastern European countries, and the arrival of new vehicles will form a substantial part of this.
-
Mortar mobility: Patria’s TREMOS takes aim at the modern battlespace
In conversation... Patria’s Lauri Pauniaho talks to Shephard's Gerrard Cowan about how high mobility levels are essential for mortar systems in the face of modern counter-battery fire, and how a new platform-agnostic module can combine existing vehicles and mortar barrels into a cost-effective new weapon system.